The Cleveland Cavaliers keep winning, but it’s not because of their defense. It looked like this would be the case again as they allowed the Charlotte Hornets to score 40 points in the third quarter, but then something changed. Charlotte went just 6-21 from the field with just 15 points in the final frame, leading to Cleveland’s 15th straight win.
“We changed our defense a little bit, went to the zone and I feel like that really slowed them down,” Evan Mobley said. “I like our versatility with the zone. … We have a lot of different options that we can show people. I feel like we did that tonight.”
This worked because it reduced the drive-and-kick play that led to so many open triples in the first three quarters. The Cavs’ willingness to help on drives left them in a position where they couldn’t rotate back to the shooter at the rim. This was most evident when their best attacking defenders, Isaac Okoro and Dean Wade, were not on the floor.
“The zone definitely saved us,” Darius Garland said. “They just went downhill, they were playing five outs, so none of our rim protectors were in the paint. (They were) just driving it and having the swing, swings for wide open threes.
The zone eliminates over-helping because the perimeter defender continually turns toward a shooter even if he is beaten off the dribble. There is also a rim protector waiting for them when they get to the basket. This has been difficult to handle for a team like Charlotte, which shoots the second-most threes in the league. In the end, they were just trying to shoot over a stationary defense that could provide a good match for the try.
The Hornets also tried to get to the middle of the floor and get contested jumpers, which will always be a win for the defense even if they make tough twos.
“It’s an excellent zone, it’s an excellent plan on how we guard the zone, shoutout to Max (Strus),” Allen said. “He introduced the zone, so to speak. He was a coach for a day and told us where we should be and how we should monitor certain things.”
Strus’ instructions led to a disciplined zone against Charlotte, similar to the one Erik Spoelstra is known for with the Miami Heat. Strus seemed to have picked up a thing or two from his run to the NBA Finals with Spoelstra.
“(We) are still learning from him even though he’s on the sidelines,” Garland said. ‘He still preaches about the zone. So even during film (sessions) he stands on the board, as if he points out where we should be. So it’s good to see. I mean, he knows it very well. Coach Max is doing a pretty good job.”
The Hornets are not a good basketball team, but they play a similar, albeit watered-down, offense to the Boston Celtics. That’s by design. Charlotte head coach Charles Lee was an assistant with the Celtics last year and previously worked under Mike Budenholzer with the Milwaukee Bucks. Both systems are known for their principled spacing and their reliance on the drive-and-kick game to generate outside looks. Lee has implemented that well in Charlotte, even if he doesn’t have the talent of either of those teams.
We’ll have to wait until Tuesday to see if this zone works against a much better Celtics offense. What we do know is that the zone Strus was part of in Miami did work against Boston in the 2023 playoffs. The blueprint is there. And at the moment the players also have confidence in the zone. They now at least have a curveball to keep Joe Mazzulla’s team off balance.
“Just our energy in the zone,” Allen said. “We communicate well, we know when to exclude. We know that if Evan goes, I’ll be behind him. It’s just a good movement team that works well together.”
